When Kumail Nanjiani debuted his jacked physique ahead of Marvel's wildly misunderstood Eternals, the internet had a lot of feelings. The actor's transformation from self-described “nerdy guy” to full-on star for an upcoming superhero movie became one of the most talked-about side stories surrounding the film. While Eternals has since become one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most debated entries, Nanjiani recently offered a perfectly absurd explanation for its box office struggles. And, yes, it involves very expensive abs.
Nanjiani’s comments come from a clip shared by comedian Gianmarco Soresi, pulled from an episode of his podcast, The Downside, and posted on Instagram. The moment won’t likely reignite old Marvel arguments, but it does hilariously reframe the entire Eternals conversation through pure, self-aware comedy. Check it out down below.
Before landing the punchline, the stand-up comedian and filmmaker walked through how fans reacted when he stopped looking like the guy who might sit next to you at Comic-Con and started looking like someone who could throw a car. He explained:
When I went from nerdy looking to buff looking, a lot of people got very upset about it… I think they felt betrayed by me or something, because I had a big nerdy audience. I’m still the same nerdy guy.
That sense of betrayal has followed him ever since Eternals hit theaters in 2021. As he’s joked elsewhere, some people seemed personally offended that he’d dared to change his body, as if lifting weights somehow rewrote his personality. Nanjiani explained that the powers that be at Marvel didn’t even ask him to undergo the body transformation; instead, he took it on himself. According to the former podcaster, had he shown up looking exactly as he always had, Marvel would’ve rolled with it, which makes what came next all the funnier.
When asked whether Eternals might have performed better had he stayed “nerdy,” Nanjiani didn’t hesitate. He jokingly quipped:
I think that was the problem… A lot of the reviews said I was too buff, so people decided not to buy tickets. It cost that movie $400 million at the box office. Each ab cost $100 million at the box office.
It’s a ridiculous exaggeration, but it does somehow manage to skewer how Eternals discourse often drifted away from the movie itself. The film faced real hurdles, including mixed reviews, a sprawling cast and a pandemic-altered theatrical landscape. For whatever reason, Nanjiani became an unlikely lightning rod for criticism for the movie. Admittedly, the criticism had very little to do with his actual performance as Kingo.
The joke also ties neatly into Kumail Nanjiani’s broader comedic arc. As he said in his new stand-up special, Night Thoughts, he said there is no reason, especially since those six Marvel movies never happened, for him to stay buff anymore. However, Nanjiani also says he does it anyway, partly out of spite, partly because it opened doors he never had before. Whether or not Kingo ever returns, Nanjiani has turned his Marvel muscles into one of his best recurring bits.
You can revisit Eternals, as all Marvel movies are available to stream with a Disney+ subscription.
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